Golf club



Dec. 30, 193%. s. \NASHINGTON GOLF CLUB Filed July 13, 1927 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Dec. 30, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOWDEN WASHINGTON, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T UNION HARDWARE COH- PANY, OF TORRINGTON,CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT comaonus Application filedJuly 18,

My invention relates to improvements in golf clubs and has for its mainobject the provision of a shaft which is practically in- .destructibleand has substantially the same feel as a first class wooden shaft.

Another object is to rovide a light but strong and resilient shaft whichwill withstand rough usage without permanent distortion.

0 .Another object is to provide a shaft having the foregoingcharacteristics which at the same time will produce a minimum airresistance without eing too whippy'.

In carr in out the invention I provide a 5 shaft pre era ly of metal andof flattened or stream line cross section and secure the shaft in thehead of the club at such an angle as to provide a minimum air resistanceto movement throughout that part of the swing where 0 the velocity andacceleration should be the greatest and at the same time provide amaximum rigidity at the moment of impact consistent with that feel whichdistinguishes the high grade wooden shaft from the rigid 5 steel shaft.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a golf club embodying the improvements of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View showing method ofsecuring a shaft in 0 the head.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the plane of the line 33 ofFig. l but on a larger scale.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are transverse sections on 5 the planes of the lines44,' 5-5 and 6-6 of Flg. 1 but on larger scales.

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of a modified partially formed tube.

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of a solid 0 shaft.

Fig. 9 is a section of a laminated shaft.

Fig. 10 is a toe view of a stream line head.

I have illustrated the invention as applied to iron headed clubs forcertain features of 5 which it is particularly adapted, but it should1927. Serial No. 205,404.

be understood that the improved form and arrangement of shaft areespecially applicable to the faster moving wooden headed clubs.

The shaft is preferably rolled, or otherwise formed to the desired crosssection. The handle portion 10 is preferably circular in cross sectionand may be either straight or tapered and provided with any suitableform of grip and with any suitable extension if desired. The tip 11 isshaped to fit the socket in the hozel 12 of the head. The main ortion 13of the shaft is preferably tapere from the largerhandle end to thesmaller tip. In cross section the main ortion 13 is flattened somewhatgradually rom the handle toward the head, that is, it is flatter nearthe head than it is near the handle. The changes in cross section willbe apparent from the comparison of Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

The hozel 12 may be provided with a somewhat flattened socket and thetip 11 of the shaft may be flattened to fit it. n this way not only isthe stream line effect continued into the hozel of the head, butadditional security against relative rotation of the shaft in the hozelis provided. A pin or rivet 14 of the usual character may also beemployed to hold the shaft in the head.

To additionally reinforce the shaft at the upper end of the hozel wherethe strain is particularly great, I may enlarge or bulge the shaft asshown at 15. also prefer to make the entrance to the hozel tapered orfunnellike, as shown at 16, so as to afford a curved bearing wall forthe shaft and avoid the sharp edge commonly found in the sockets of ironheads and which tends to break a shaft at this point.

A wood pin with a tapered tip 17 may be driven into the tip of the shaftto reinforce it against collapse and also give greater security for thepin 14.

The shaft is preferably set into the head so that the long axis ww ofits cross section is at an inclination to the longitudinal axls of thedriving face, that is, preferably not at right angles. The angle abetween the axes a2'm and g 3 is preferably an obtuse angle of somethingover 100 degrees so that the front edge 18 will be leading as the headreaches its maximum velocity just before the final twist of the wristsimmediately preceding impact.

At the beginning of the swing of course the heel of the shaft leads butthe air resist- 'ance of the flattened shaft is then unimportant sincethe velocity is then low. As the club head and shaft accelerate the airresistance becomes more and more serious as it increases according tothe square of the velocity. The velocity of the head gets to besomething like 150 feet per second or more at the instant of impact. Thehead and shaft turn about the longitudinal axis of the shaft as the clubis swung 'so that the nose or edge 18 of the shaft is gradually turnedand leads in the direction of the swing thus reducing the resistance asthe velocity increases.

I prefer to form the shaft of metal tubing which may either be seamlessor provided with a brazed or welded seam. When formed of a seamless tubeit will ordinarily be drawn, tapered, flattened, and then heat treatedand tempered. When formed of strip metal it may be formed with an openseam 19 as shown in Fig. 7 and this seam may then be brazed or welded orotherwise closed. Such a joint can be quite easily made at the fin-likeedges of the shaft without requiring any special filler.

The flattened shaft has a less resistance to torsion than an ordinaryconically tapered shaft of the same cross sectional area. It is tionbefore hardening in order to lighten the shaft and bring the balancepoint lower down or nearer the head. In fact the entire shaft may be ofsuch an aluminum alloy in tubular form. Such a shaft is light andresilient and yet is of attractive a pearance and will not rust orcorrode. If ormed of steel or steel alloy it will, of course be heattreated, hardened and tempered to give the necessary resiliency.

If formed of tempered steel tubing, the

shaft may be of say .016" 'ga e and say 0.7

outside diameter at the ban e end andfapered to an approximate ovoidoutline Just above the hozel with a major axis of say 0.4" and a minoraxis of say 0.2

An aluminum alloy tube may be somewhat larger and have a thicker wall,say A solid alloy shaft may be somewhat smaller.

A wooden shaft also may be given the special stream-line section abovedescribed. It may be made up of a single rod or laminated and may bereinforced by a flat steel stripas shown at 21 in Fig. 2.

An iron headed club such as cleeks, driving irons, niblicks, mashies,etc. can bevprovided wit-h a stream-line tail 22, Fig. 10, formed ofsome material of low specific grav ity e. g. aluminum or aluminum alloyand secured in place in any desired manner so as to reduce the airresistance to a minimum. Of course a wooden head can be readily shapedin any desired manner tovaflord a minimum resistance bearing in mindthat the heel of the club leads at the beginning of the driving strokeand that the striking face must be suitable for the purpose of thecl}tg1bviza driver, brassie, spoon or the li e.

The special shaft may be used on any club, although of course the airresistance is of less consequence in slow moving clubs such as putters.y The shafts may be made of various lengths and degrees of whippiness tosuit various individuals.

I claim: I

1. A golf club having a head and a resilient tapered tubular metal shaftof elongated cross-section, the major cross sectional axis being at anobtuse angle to the horizontal center line of the striking face of thehead on the impact side of said axis.

2. A golf club having a tubular tapered metal shaft socketed in a hozeland reinforced above and adjacent the hozel by having a diameter of saidshaft enlarged for a short distance with respect to the inside diameterof the hozel, the walls of said enlargement being more steeply taperedthan the shaft or its socketed portion on each side of said enlargementand the shaft being spaced from the top inner edge of the hozel.

3. A golf club having a tubular metal shaft along the sloping inner wallof the hozel as the shaft flexes.

4. A golf club having a shaft socketed in a hozel, the upper inner edgeof said hozel c bevel on said hozel me'mio being beveled and said shaftbeing tapered adjacent said bevel to rock thereon under flexure.

5. A golf club having a shaft socketed in a hozel, the upper inner ed eof said hozel being beveled and said she being tapered adjacent saidbevel to rock thereon under flexure, the bevel in said hozel and thecooperating shaft taer being rounded and the lleing rounded on a smallerradius of curvature than the cooperating shaft taper.

BOEN WASHINGTQN.

